Hiked Plateau using the Long Path out of Silver Hollow and the Devils path out to the summit and back to the Notch. Overall the hike was about 7.25 miles and took a leisurely 5.5 hours. I biked back to silver hollow to complete the loop. The Long path ascent up Plateaus long southwest arm was quite scenic and interesting as it meandered through rock outcrops and unspoiled, diverse forest. Numerous vistas were along the trail, marked with small discs. Vistas 1, 3 and 7 were the best, i did not find vista 6 though. After 2.5 hours i reached the devils path and quickly got the summit and nearby vista. I met two other hikers out that way. I enjoyed the long walk back across the summit ridge through the spruce tunnels and birch/spruce/fir forest to the western overlooks, which were spectacular. The hike down the devils path to the notch was rough in spots but overall not too bad on my knees. I thought this hike was great, one of the best.

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Sounds like a great hike/bike! If you do it again, the overlooks on the DP back toward Orchard Point are also spectacular. Plateau is such a great trip, because of the number of miles you can put in on fairly level ground in the boreal forest. No other spot in the Catskills is quite like it.

It's funny, I think I chose almost the exact same spot you did for an 'unspoilt forest' picture. It's the patch of balsams way over on the east side near the summit, right?

it looks like the same spot! I did hike over that way to Orchard Point on the way back, great views but little hazy so didn't post pics from there - This hike had 6 good overlooks and a few spot views thrown in. Also, so people know, you must get a day pass from the nearby campground to park in the notch- i think it was $6.

I think Mike is a bit off with his elv. but there are two ways up Plateau. First, I highly recommend getting your hands on a map for navigation. (even if it's a crappy jpg you find online)

From the west: Notch lake (Devil's tombstone) is at almost exactly 2,000 ft elevation. The "top" of Plateau on the west side is a bit over 3600 ft. So this is 1600 feet gain. This is spread over about 1.3 miles (Devil's Path- Red Blaze), so I would count this as "steep" (1,600 ft/1.3 mi) is > 1,000 ft/ mile gain.

Realize that the true summit of plateau is on the eastern side (furthest from Devil's Tomstone). So if you climb from the west you have to hike the 2.1 miles there, plus 2.1 miles back along the summit of plateau. I would say this is probably the most pleasant 4 miles you will ever hike. This makes a total of nearly 7 miles. If you are not down for hiking that amount of mileage, and don't really care about reaching the true summit, the western viewpoint is well worth it on its own.

From the east you can park in Mink Hollow (if you can find it >.<) the road is at a bit over 2200 ft, and the true-summit there is 3840 ft. So this is also a good 1600 feet of gain. This is about 1.5 miles up, and then 1.5 back down (at 1,600ft/1.5 mi) , so this is on par "steepness" wise with the western side still >1,000 ft/mile, or what I consider a "steep hike". However, you will be on the eastern side, and right near the summit so you don't need to worry bout trotting through the balsam firs for very long if you don't want to.

If you venture over to Mink Hollow realize that you will be replacing the 4 mile hike along the summit with about 40 minutes total driving time to get around to the eastern side and back again after the hike. Also if you are new to the Catskills, this is not a "real" trailhead in the sense that there is a trail there. It's basically a road-side parking at a road that dead-ends and then you follow an unmarked unmaintained woods road for about 1/2 mile until you get to the Devil's Path (Red Blaze) in Mink Hollow. This is a very popular and well used route to climb Plateau, despite the lack of DEC trail markers. It may be more difficult to know if you're in the correct spot if you decide to climb from the East without a Map or GPS location.

Hey Jon, you're overlooking the other ways up Plateau. Warner Creek is the nicest, IMHO, for the many viewpoints. It's also by far the greatest ascent, since the nearest trailhead is Notch Inn Road at about 1700 feet.

The Elka Park people also have a private trail across Spruce Top. I have no idea what it's like.

Thanks for pointing out my obvious mistake. What I was trying to say is that there is 600' of very difficult climbing on the east side, and 1200' of very difficult climbing on the west side. I prefer the easier route, so I always climb the east side.

Kevin is correct, there are two other ways up Plateau. One is private, so maybe it doesn't really count.

There is also a another 2 mile walk across Blackhead to Dutcher's Notch. Not quite as level, but similar. Another long walk across Roundtop to Bearpen too.

Thanks all I went up from rt214 to 3800 feet with the large rock you stand on? ( thanks to the girl who help get me up on the rock with a ski pole ) I also walk 1/4 mile past on had awesome view of the other side. Total time 3 hours I take alot of breaks on the way up because threat of rain only had pocket camera so pics not that great and too large to upload